Top Ten First Time Viewings, 2014.

I know that non-annotated lists of old things aren’t really worth a damn to anyone, but as a temporary space-filling measure, here is a list I cobbled together over the holidays of the ten films I enjoyed / appreciated the most this year (counting first viewings only). With a bit of luck, I’ll be able to expand on these with a few short(ish) review posts in the coming weeks and months, but for now, everyone likes a fatuous end-of-year list right, even if it is in this case assembled by a man who apparently managed to watch a grand total of ZERO newly released fictional films during 2014.

Even by my usual backward-looking standards, that’s quite an achievement – whether a negative or positive one, I’ll leave you to be the judge. In my defense, it’s certainly been one hell of a year vis-à-vis my personal life, but nonetheless, here’s hoping I find the time to take in at least a *handful* of contemporary motion pictures in 2015.

Until then though, a happy new year to one and all, and here are some of the very best old movies I watched for the first time during 2014.

1. Gate of Flesh (Seijun Suzuki, 1963)

2. White of The Eye (Donald Cammell, 1987)

3. Phenomena (Dario Argento, 1984)

4. Classe Tous Risques (Claude Sautet, 1960)

5. Dark of the Sun (Jack Cardiff, 1968)

6. Neon Maniacs (Joseph Mangine, 1986)

7. Sorcerer (William Friedkin, 1977)

8. Southern Comfort (Walter Hill, 1981)

9. Violent Virgin (Koji Wakamatsu, 1970)

10. Death Laid An Egg (Giulio Questi, 1968)

Sweater off / Dead: A ‘Bloody Moon’ Fashion Show.

Stylistically speaking, I think it could well be said that Jess Franco never really DID the 1980s. Sure, he made a lot of films in the 1980s, but in purely aesthetic terms, he never really seems to embraced the bold new era as much as we might have hoped.

Visually, much of his output during the ‘80s seems to resemble a nostalgic hangover for the jet-setting Mediterranean excesses of his ‘70s work, and more often than not, ventures toward more contemporary stylings were characterised less by directorial vision than by a sense of sad, budget-necessitated randomness that inevitably veered towards the less tolerable end of the decade’s cultural legacy (Princess Di haircuts, spandex shorts, slap bass, etc).

Perhaps due to the contribution of some outside costume/design staff and a (slightly) higher budget than usual though, ‘Bloody Moon’ stands out as a glorious exception – a film in which the man who brought us the visual delights of ‘Vampyros Lesbos’ and ‘The Girl From Rio’ can truly be seen to be adapting his sartorial passions to the era of leg-warmers, ill-fitting cowboy boots and above all, SWEATERS. (Or “jumpers” as we call them in this part of the world, but in keeping with the trans-atlantic nomenclature of the movie in question, we’ll go with “sweaters”.)

The results, needless to say, are frequently a thing of beauty. So, to further elucidate this point whilst also hopefully providing a few moments of light-weight net-pleasure to all you bored wage slaves out there patiently awaiting my next 4,000 word opus on some sleazy, forgotten horror film, here are six of the best fashion moments from this unique motion picture.

6.

Nadja Gerganoff may be no Lina Romay, but she does at least seem to have picked up a sliver of Lina’s sartorial boldness vis-à-vis her decision to go out in public dressed like this.

5.

Believe it or not, this little number is only the third best sweater in ‘Bloody Moon’. At one point in the film, we learn that Angela, played by Olivia Pascal (pictured above) has actually brought an entire wardrobe of sweaters with her to the International Youth-Club Boarding School of Languages. A questionable decision for a summer break spent on the South coast of Spain you might think, but clearly Angela was well aware that competition in the sweater stakes would be heated. Will such forethought lead her to victory? Read on to find out…

4.

The girl on the right. Entire ensemble. Nuff said.

3.

Inevitably, we’re mainly concentrating on the ladies of ‘Bloody Moon’ for this list, but that’s not to say that male cast don’t have their moments too. In particular, I would like to draw your attention to the 2000AD-esque comic book design briefly glimpsed on the back of the scarred-mentalist-brother character’s leather bomber jacket. Nice one, dude.

2.

It was difficult to get a good screengrab of Angela’s majestic Grace Jones sweatshirt, but… hopefully you get the idea.

1.

I’m sorry Angela – you might have thought the Grace Jones play was a pretty unbeatable move, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING, in the world of sweaters compares to the garment being sported here by Jasmin Losensky’s Inga. Total supremacy.

Right, that's more than enough 'Bloody Moon' for now I think. See you all at the Disco Club...

Out in the Great Beyond…

Since I went cold turkey on Tumblr last year (whoever called it the blogging equivalent of crack was on to something), I often stumble upon extraordinary imagery and text elsewhere that I instinctively want to re-blog at the touch of a button, before remembering that NO, I can’t do that anymore.

But since we’re already on back-up generator / emergency lighting mode here this month, might as well take the opportunity to share with you a few wonders currently available out there in the ether, all in the reassuring form of a nice, old-fashioned links post (the blogging equivalent of a gin & tonic out on the patio, perhaps).

First off, my ongoing investigation of the history of Japanese gothic horror movies was blown wide open by this rather tremendous poster gallery, courtesy of Pulp International. Who knew there were so many films about ghost cats lurking in people’s ceilings? Grow up in a nation that traditionally favours light-weight, single-storey construction for domestic buildings and that probably becomes an easier childhood fear to relate to, I suppose. Awesome were-chicken on the poster for 1958’s ‘Akadô Suzunosuke: Mitsume no Chôjin’(“Red-Armored Suzunosuke: Three-Eyed Birdman”) too. The hunt goes on!

Secondly: you remember The Witchmaker? I still really like that movie. I’ll have to put the effort in to actually find a watchable copy of it one day, but in the meantime, how about these complete scans of the film’s pressbook & promotional materials, via the And Everything Else Too blog? Definitely worth a look.

Next up, Au carrefour étrange gives us a set of illustrations for Jacques Sternberg’s C'est la guerre Monsieur Gruber (1968). What does it all mean? I don’t know, but as is so often the case with French culture, a state of blissful ignorance seems the best approach when faced with such extraordinary pop-arty beauty.

If reading highly detailed and insightful articles on the world of ‘70s British smut and soft porn sounds like your cup of tea, Gav Crimson is your man, with this recent write up on George Harrison Marks’ 8mm epic ‘Aphrodisia’ (1970) being particularly worth your while. It’s odd that whilst I have little interest in actually watching most of the films that emerged from this particular demi-monde, I find reading about the events and personalities behind it quite compelling; go figure.

Staying with the UK, you are all reading TV Minus 50, I trust? A great blog.

And finally, you no doubt heard about what befell The Philippines last week, so, if you've ever thrilled to the adventures of Agent 00, Cleopatra Wong, or, uh, that guy with the moustache in  ‘The Killing of Satan’ - or indeed if you have no idea what the hell I'm talking about - you know what to do.

Argh.

I was planning to get this blog back on track this week with a series of exciting paperback posts.

Unfortunately though, my printer/scanner has undergone some pretty severe trauma this evening, and is now sitting by the front door in several pieces whilst I try to figure out the best way to dispose of it.

As usual, there's at least a thousand different things I'd love to write long and erudite posts about, but lack of time means that's not gonna happen.

At a loss for any other kind of content, why not enjoy this trailer for the 1980 Roger Corman/Barbara Peeters joint 'Humanoids from the Deep', as released in the UK under the title 'Monster'? Saw this at the start of an old VHS last weekend, and thought it was pretty funny... (particularly the conspicuous lack of any monsters)...